We appreciate our responsibility and role as a company to prevent the continued spread of the virus. We are thankful for the recommendations local and global authorities like the World Health Organization are giving in relation to COVID-19 and follow them closely. The safety and wellbeing of our people, customers, partners and communities is our top priority and goes hand in hand with one of our core values, Care for Life.
While we understand the situation is changing day-by-day, on a group level, we have established a coordination team lead by our global HR director, to monitor what is happening, help us prepare and respond where needed. Our business units have also established local teams to do the same, who we are closely coordinating with.
Due to the Coronavirus we have implemented several additional safety precautions for our employees working on project sites as well as in office environments. More specifically, an international travel ban was put into place at the beginning of March, applying to all 35,000 employees. We have asked our employees to host existing meetings via digital collaborations tools. Where possible and based on local guidelines, employees are working from home. We’ve reinforced the need to exercise good hygiene, particularly hand washing, on all project sites and offices across the Group. Finally, we’ve asked any colleagues who show even mild symptoms of illness to stay at home. All to keep our work environments, offices as well as project sites as healthy as possible. It is always our top priority that we keep our people safe. That was our mission before COVID-19 and it will continue to be in the future.
As societies slowly start to re-open and people in some regions return to offices and work sites, we emphasize the importance of following local guidelines— both when at work and in our private lives. At the same time, we continue to follow local authorities’ guidance and facilitate remote work for our colleagues where possible. In some of our markets we also have the possibility to loan computer screens and office chairs for home use.
As a company there is much we can do to help in combatting the spread of COVID-19. But it’s important too that we all individually play our part in preventing the situation getting worse, and by doing so protect those who are more vulnerable in our communities. We ask all our partners and customers to do the same.
We can also see that the spread of the coronavirus is now directly impacting the real economy, with lower demand in many industries. It’s impossible to say how big the impact will be or how long it will last. With this in mind it is crucial that we, while making sure that safety is a top priority, also keep our projects and business moving forward. The need for what we do – developing workplaces, building schools, roads, hospitals and homes will continue, even after this difficult time is behind us. Therefore, we must pull together, be careful, but stay focused. We’re following the development of the situation closely and communicating with our coordination teams. We will keep you up to date here if the situation across the company should change. We encourage all to during this time stay informed, stay calm, carry on and be safe.